New healthcare legislation: GOP said to lack votes despite Trump demands
By Susan Cornwell & Amanda Becker
WASHINGTON: House GOP leaders aren’t confident they have enough votes to pass their embattled health-care bill, according to a senior congressional aide, and are already considering what to do if the measure is blocked before a door-die vote hours away.
House Speaker Paul Ryan arrived at the White House on Friday to brief President Donald Trump ahead of the vote. Vice President Mike Pence cancelled a trip to Arkansas to be in Washington for the vote, a White House official said.
The Trump administration is doubling down on its demand that House Republican leaders hold a vote on Friday on their embattled healthcare bill without any changes but an influential GOP member saying he’s not sure they have the votes. “I’m not sure we’ve landed it,” Mark Walker of North Carolina, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee of House members, said Friday morning.
“I’m hopeful that we can get there today but at this point I don’t know how many we’re short.”
Tensions among House Republicans were high, said Chris Collins of New York, the first House member to endorse Trump last year. “There’s some divisiveness within our conference that’s not healthy,” Collins said. “I’ve never seen this before. People are just refusing to talk to each other. They’re storming past each other. This is not good.”
‘CURRENTLY UNACCEPTABLE’
House Appropriations Committee chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey announced his opposition to the measure, writing on Facebook that the bill was “currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care” on his constituents.
If the high-stakes gamble works and the House manages to pass the Obamacare replacement, it will be an important win for Trump and Ryan who formed an uneasy alliance to repeal the former President’s signature healthcare law. If blocked, it will be an embarrassing setback that casts doubt on the duo’s ability to deliver on their ambitious agenda, including taxes and infrastructure, both of which are being closely watched by Wall Street.
WASHINGTON: House GOP leaders aren’t confident they have enough votes to pass their embattled health-care bill, according to a senior congressional aide, and are already considering what to do if the measure is blocked before a door-die vote hours away.
House Speaker Paul Ryan arrived at the White House on Friday to brief President Donald Trump ahead of the vote. Vice President Mike Pence cancelled a trip to Arkansas to be in Washington for the vote, a White House official said.
The Trump administration is doubling down on its demand that House Republican leaders hold a vote on Friday on their embattled healthcare bill without any changes but an influential GOP member saying he’s not sure they have the votes. “I’m not sure we’ve landed it,” Mark Walker of North Carolina, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee of House members, said Friday morning.
“I’m hopeful that we can get there today but at this point I don’t know how many we’re short.”
Tensions among House Republicans were high, said Chris Collins of New York, the first House member to endorse Trump last year. “There’s some divisiveness within our conference that’s not healthy,” Collins said. “I’ve never seen this before. People are just refusing to talk to each other. They’re storming past each other. This is not good.”
‘CURRENTLY UNACCEPTABLE’
House Appropriations Committee chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey announced his opposition to the measure, writing on Facebook that the bill was “currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care” on his constituents.
If the high-stakes gamble works and the House manages to pass the Obamacare replacement, it will be an important win for Trump and Ryan who formed an uneasy alliance to repeal the former President’s signature healthcare law. If blocked, it will be an embarrassing setback that casts doubt on the duo’s ability to deliver on their ambitious agenda, including taxes and infrastructure, both of which are being closely watched by Wall Street.
